Perhaps Max Eberl will have been really happy on Saturday afternoon that his way in the evening did not lead to the “Aktuelle Sportstudio” in Mainz as planned until Thursday.
Otherwise, the head of sports at RB Leipzig would not only have been asked about his past in Mönchengladbach – what he no longer wanted and why he canceled or was invited, depending on the definition – but also about the more than unfortunate week in Leipzig. 0:7 on Tuesday in the Champions League at Manchester City, 0:1 now at relegation candidate VfL Bochum in the league. Two very different defeats, but both unexpected, sobering and somehow embarrassing in their own way.
Leipzig’s Rose: “We’ll adjust again”
The cameras caught Eberl struggling again and again in the stands in Bochum. He initially refrained from making statements to the journalists. Marco Rose was not granted that. Coaches are obliged to press conferences and TV interviews. The fact that he didn’t really feel like it after this unfortunate week was clearly noticeable to the RB coach. Especially since the people of Leipzig have to carry the backpack of the two defeats with them for two weeks because of the international break.
“When the lads come back from internationals we’ll readjust for the last nine games,” said Rose. He “didn’t see an unsettled team and none that didn’t want to. But the issue will be that we bring everything back into focus.” The motto is: “Don’t talk so much, but work on things that allow us to achieve our goals.”
What annoyed the coach so much were the four big chances missed in injury time – by the way, they were the first of the game – but even more the goal conceded. “It’s more than annoying that we as RB Leipzig lose a Bundesliga game with our goals with such a simple goal,” he said. In advance, he clearly pointed out the situation in which Bochum were allowing long throw-ins by Philipp Hofmann to be extended to the far post. “There’s nothing simpler,” complained the coach: “I know what’s coming. It’s actually relatively simple.” So it was the 15th standard goal in the 24th game of the season. “I demand that we do a better job of defending this,” Rose said. He assumes “that the players know that themselves”.
VfL Bochum suddenly in 14th place
Full-back Marcel Halstenberg knew. “We’re not awake, we’re not talking to each other, we’re too vulnerable,” he said of the default weakness. And now carries frustration in the international break. “It just takes too long before you can make amends,” said the nine-time international: “Now we just have to lick our wounds after these two games. And see to it that our international players come back healthy so that we can get back on the road to success .”
The mood at VfL was completely different. Two weeks ago after the 0:2 in the derby against Schalke, VfL was last. “And everyone thought we were dead,” said Captain Anthony Losilla. After two victories without conceding, Bochum are suddenly 14th and four points ahead of the relegation place. The two big winners: Serbian defense chief Ersan Masovic, who scored his fourth goal in the second half of the season with the winning goal against RB (48th). And goalkeeper Manuel Riemann, who would have lost his regular place after the Schalke game if substitute Michael Esser hadn’t been ill. Now he was the match winner for the second time in a row. “He was criticized. Rightly so,” said coach Thomas Letsch: “But Manu deserves the utmost respect for the way he reacted.”
